Anti-theft display rack

ABSTRACT

A unique anti-theft wire display rack, including two interconnected, relatively movable frame members, article support hooks on one of said frame members to support articles thereon for display and sale, means on the other frame member operatively associated with the hooks on said one frame member when the frame members are in one position relative to one another to prevent unauthorized removal of an article from said hooks when said frame members are locked together, and lock means connected with the frame members to lock said frame members together in said one position.

United States Patent [191 Young, Jr.

[ 1 Nov. 26, 1974 4] ANTI-THEFT DISPLAY RACK [76] Inventor: Ira Bruce Young, Jr., 4215 Cromwell Rd, Chattanooga, Tenn. 37403 22 Filed: July 5,1973

21 App1.No.:376,618

[52] US. Cl 211/4, 211/59, 211/181 [51] Int. Cl. A47f 5/01 E05b 73/00 [58] Field of Search 211/4, 8, 7, 59, 57, 13, 211/124; 312/107.5

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 7/1939 Sullivan 211/59 X 2,889,050 6/1959 Modrey 211/4 3,438,506 4/1969 GrOth 211/4 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 813,184 5/1969 Canada 211/4 3,264 2/1908 Great Britain 21 1/4 Primary Examiner-Ramon S. Britts Attorney, Agent, or FirmShoemaker and Mattare [5 7 ABSTRACT A unique anti-theft wire display rack, including two interconnected, relatively movable frame members, article support hooks on one of said frame members to support articles thereon for display and sale, means on the other frame member operatively associated with the hooks on said one frame member when the frame members are in one position relative to one another to prevent unauthorized removal of an article from said hooks when said frame members are locked together, and lock means connected with the frame members to lock said frame members together in said one position.

10 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures ANTI-THEFT DISPLAY RACK BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to display racks for displaying articles for sale to the general public and, in particular, relates to a unique anti-theft display rack wherein means are provided for preventing unauthorized removal of articles from the rack while at the same time permitting their display to the public for inspection prior to sale of the articles.

Many types of display racks are known in the prior art for displaying articles to the general public for sale; however, most such display racks do not have any means thereon for preventing unauthorized removal of the articles from the display rack; and, accordingly, many articles are lost through theft and rnisplacement of articles from the rack.

Other prior art display racks have means to prevent removal of the articles from the racks, but such means are relatively complicated and expensive and are time consuming to operate thus making such racks undesirable for use in a store or the like when the clerk may be busy and not able to spend the time to operate the rack to either remove an article therefrom for sale or to permit a customer to more fully inspect the article before the sale.

With the present invention, a unique anti-theft display rack is provided, wherein two frame members are connected together for relative movement therebetween with a plurality of article support hooks on one of said frame members to support the articles thereon for display and sale and with means on the other frame member cooperatively associated with the hooks to prevent unauthorized removal of articles from the hooks when the frame members are in a locked position, and easily operated lock means is connected with the frame members to lock the frame members together in their locked position. The articles supported on the display rack of the present invention are supported so as to be easily viewed by the public, and the articles may be inspected by the public without removing them from the rack prior to sale of the articles.

The unique anti-theft display rack of the invention is economically constructed from wire or wire like materials and is easily transported from one location to another and may be readily positioned on either the floor or a countertop, as desired.

Moreover, the display rack of the invention is rugged in construction, and there are no loose or separate parts to become misplaced during use and handling of the display rack.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION It is an object of this invention to provide a unique anti-theft wire display rack, wherein two frame members are connected together for relative movement therebetween and with a plurality of article support means on one of said frame members to support articles thereon for display and sale, and with means on the other frame member cooperatively associated with the article support means to prevent unauthorized removal of articles from the article support means when the two frame members are in a locked position relative to one another. An easily operated lock means is connected with the frame members to lock the frame members in their locked position.

Another object of the invention is to provide a unique anti-theft display rack which is simple and economical in construction and which is rugged in construction and easy to carry from one position to another and which may be equally as well supported on a floor or a countertop as desired.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a unique anti-theft wire display rack according to the invention with a plurality of articles supported thereon.

FIG. 2 is a view in section taken along line 2-2 in FIG. 1 and with a portion thereof broken away.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken along line 3-3 in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of one of the article support hooks of the rack of the invention showing a lock bar operatively associated with the hook to prevent unauthorized removal of an article therefrom.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the wire display rack of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of the unique display rack of the invention, showing the frame members in unlocked position for removal of articles from the hooks or placement of articles on the hooks.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view similar to FIG. 4 with the frame members in unlocked position for removal of articles from the hooks.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In the drawings, wherein like reference numerals indicate. like parts throughout the several views, and as seen best in FIG. 5, the unique anti-theft wire display rack of the invention is indicated generally at 10 and comprises a substantially rectangularly shaped open wire support frame 1 1 with a plurality of elongate, horizontally extending, parallel, wire, article support bars 12 fixed at their opposite ends to opposite sides of the open wire frame 1 1 as by a weld W or the like. The support bars 12 are welded to one side of the support frame 11 so as to be positioned to one side of the plane of the open frame 11.

A plurality of vertically extending braces 13 having upper and lower laterally inturned ends 14 and 15 thereon, respectively, are fixed at their upper and lower ends to the inside of the upper and lower ends of the open frame 11 as by means of a weld W or the like, and the braces are also welded to the horizontal article support bars 12 as at W.

A plurality of evenly spaced apart, substantially U- shaped article support hooks 16 are fixed to the article support bars 12 along the length thereof, and each hook 16 comprises a pair of spaced apart legs 17 and 18 with the end of one leg 17 fixed to the underside of the support bar 12 as by means of a weld W or the like and with the end of the other leg 18 spaced downwardly from leg 17 and turned laterally downwardly as at 19.

As seen best in FIG. 2, the hooks 16 are slightly downwardly inclined toward their closed end so that an article supported therein is maintained at the outer closed end of the hooks.

A pair of substantially inverted V-shaped support legs 20 are fixed to the open wire frame 11 adjacent opposite lower sides thereof as by means of a weld W or the like, and the lower ends of the support legs are turned upwardly as at 21 defining a substantially rounded, smooth surface for engaging a supporting surface such as a countertop or the like to support the frame and rack in a substantially upright position.

A combination carrying handle and latch means 22 is fixed to the upper end of the open wire frame 11 and comprises a substantially inverted U-shaped wire member 23 including a horizontal portion 24 and opposite downwardly extending end portions 25 and 26 suitably fixed as by a weld or the like W to the frame 11 on one side thereof. The member 23 is inclined inwardly over the upper end of the frame 11 as seen best in FIG. 2.

Another substantially inverted U-shaped wire member 27 is fixed to the upper end of the frame 11 and includes a horizontally extending portion 28 of less length than the horizontally extending portion 24 of member 23 and welded to the horizontal portion 24 of member 23 as at W.

A pair of downwardly extending, opposite end portions 29 and 30 of member 27 are welded to the side of frame 11 opposite to the side to which downwardly extending portions 25 and 26 are welded, and the member 27 is inclined toward member 23 as seen best in FIG. 2.

The mid portion of member 27 is bent outwardly to define a latch projection 31 thereon.

A substantially rectangularly shaped locking frame 32 of slightly smaller size than the support frame 11 is positioned within the opening bounded by frame 11 for sliding, vertical movement relative thereto within the plane of the opening in frame 11 and comprises an inverted substantially U-shaped frame 33 comprising a horizontally extending, outwardly bent portion 34 and opposite, generally vertically downwardly extending legs 35 and 36, said legs sliding against the inside confronting surfaces of the opposite sides of frame 11. A plurality of horizontally extending, elongate, parallel spaced apart lock bars 37 are fixed at their opposite ends to the opposite sides of frame 33 and to one side of the legs 35 and 36 such that the lock bars 37 are in vertical alignment with the support bars 12 of support frame 1 1.

A pair of spaced apart vertically extending braces 38 and 39 are fixed as by a weld W or the like to the lock bars 37, and a pair of horizontally extending spaced apart retaining bars 40 and 41 are fixed at their opposite ends to the opposite sides of the frame 11 as by a weld or the like to retain the locking frame 32 in position relative to the support frame 11, with the locking frame 32 sandwiched between the retaining bars 40 and 41 and the braces 13 of frame 11, said retaining bars serving as a slide along which the braces 38 and 39 slide during movement of the locking frame, and the braces 13 also serving as slides along which the lock bars 37 slide in moving between their locked and unlocked positions.

A suitable latch 42 is fixed as by welding or the like to the horizontal member 34 of frame 33 and comprises a generally U-shaped latch 43, operating lever 44 and eye 45 for receiving a suitable lock such as a pad lock P or the like.

In use, the lock P is removed from the eye 45 and the lever 44 manipulated to release latch 43 from latch projection 31. The horizontally extending portion 34 of locking frame 32 is then grasped to lower locking frame 32 relative to support frame 11, with the lock bars 37 moving vertically downwardly away from the downturned ends 19 of article support hooks 16 as seen in FIGS. 6 and 7, for example. In this position, articles A may be positioned over the downturned ends 19 and legs 18 of the hooks l6 and allowed to slide forwardly to the closed, downwardly sloping ends of the books 16. The horizontally extending portion 34 is then grasped with the hand, and the locking frame 32 raised to position the lock bars 37 behind the downturned ends 19 of hooks 16, and the latch 43 positioned over latch projection 31 and the lock P reinserted through eye 45 to retain lever 44 in its latched position. Thus, the lock bars 37 prevent removal of the articles A from the hooks l6, and it is not possible for the articles to be stolen from the display rack or otherwise misplaced; and, yet, the articles are fully visible to the public and may be inspected before purchase thereof.

In a preferred construction, the rectangularly shaped open wire frame 11 and the support legs 20 are of a heavier gauge metal than the support bars 12, braces 13 or of any of the components of the locking frame 32, and in the locking frame, the inverted U-shaped frame 33 is of heavier gauge construction than the lock bars 37 and braces 39. Further, in a specific construction of the unique anti-theft display rack of the invention, the

rack is approximately 20 inches wide and 24 inches high, and the hooks project forwardly approximately 2 inches from the display rack and are inclined downwardly at an angle of approximately 15 to 20.

The display rack can be of any desired sizes or shapes other than that shown and described herein, such as square rather than rectangular, and other suitable types of securing means, or latch or lock means, can be used to secure or lock the frame members together in locked position, and the securing means may be connected with any desired parts of the frames. For example, a padlock or the like can be positioned around two of the frame members, such as 12 and 37 or 11 and 34, to lock the frame members together. Further, the rack can have other types of support means rather than the particular support legs shown, and two or more of the racks may be clustered, suspended from a ceiling or other structure, as from a hook or the like, or affixed to a revolving floor stand in any desireable manner.

As this invention may be embodied in several forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof, the present embodiment is therefore illustrative and not restrictive, since the scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims rather than by the description preceeding them, and all changes that fall within the metes and bounds of the claims or that form their functional as well as conjointly cooperative equivalents, are therefore intended to be embraced by those claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An anti-theft display rack, comprising: a pair of open wire frame members connected together for relative sliding movement therebetween; one of said wire frame members including an open wire frame, a plurality of spaced apart, substantially parallel support bars fixed at opposite ends to the frame in spanning relation thereto, and a plurality of spaced apart, substantially U-shaped article support hooks having spaced apart legs and fixed at one leg thereof to the support bars at spaced locations along the length of the bars, the other leg of the hooks spaced from said one leg so that said other leg may be inserted through an opening in an article to support the article on the hook; and the other of said frame members slidably supported on said one frame member and including an open, wire locking frame having a plurality of spaced apart, substantially parallel, elongate locking bars fixed at opposite ends to the frame in spanning relation thereto, said locking bars being substantially parallel to the support bars and movable with the locking frame toward the support bars and hooks and into a locked position closely adjacent the said otehr legs of the hooks and cooperable with the hooks to prevent removal of an article from the hooks; locking means connected with the frame members to lock the frame members together in said locked position; and means supporting the rack in upright position.

2. An anti-theft display rack as in claim 1, wherein said one frame member comprises a substantially rectangularly shaped, open, wire support frame, and said bars are wire and are welded at opposite ends to opposite sides of the support frame.

3. An anti-theft display rack as in claim 1 an end of one of said legs of said hooks is welded to a support bar and the other leg is spaced downwardly therefrom defining a space between the legs through which articles may be applied to and removed from said hook.

4. An anti-theft display rack as in claim 3 wherein the free end of said other leg is turned downwardly and is below the end of said other leg, said hook inclined downwardly and outwardly from said support bar.

5. An anti-theft display rack as in claim 1 wherein a plurality of vertically extending braces are fixed to said frame and to said support bars.

6. An anti-theft display rack as in claim 1 wherein a combination carrying handle and locking means is on an upper end portion of said frame.

7. An anti-theft display rack as in claim 6 wherein a pair of downwardly extending support legs are fixed to a bottom edge portion of said frame.

8. An anti-theft display rack as in claim 4 wherein said other frame member comprises a locking frame and said locking frame is substantially rectangular in shape and is smaller than said support frame and is vertically slidably positioned in the opening bounded by said rectangularly shaped wire support frame, and said locking bars are engaged behind said downwardly turned ends of said hooks when said frame members are in their locked position.

9. An anti-theft display rack as in claim 8 wherein said locking bars are in vertical alignment with said support bars and a plurality of vertically extending braces are welded to said frame and to the support bars and locking bars to rigidify said display rack.

10. An anti-theft display rack as in claim 8 wherein said frame members are in locked position when said locking frame is raised relative to said support frame. l 

1. An anti-theft display rack, comprising: a pair of open wire frame members connected together for relative sliding movement therebetween; one of said wire frame members including an open wire frame, a plurality of spaced apart, substantially parallel support bars fixed at opposite ends to the frame in spanning relation thereto, and a plurality of spaced apart, substantially U-shaped article support hooks having spaced apart legs and fixed at one leg thereof to the support bars at spaced locations along the length of the bars, the other leg of the hooks spaced from said one leg so that said other leg may be inserted through an opening in an article to support the article on the hook; and the other of said frame members slidably supported on said one frame member and including an open, wire locking frame having a plurality of spaced apart, substantially parallel, elongate locking bars fixed at opposite ends to the frame in spanning relation thereto, said locking bars being substantially parallel to the support bars and movable with the locking frame toward the support bars and hooks and into a locked position closely adjacent the said other legs of the hooks and cooperable with the hooks to prevent removal of an article from the hooks; locking means connected with the frame members to lock the frame members together in said locked position; and means supporting the rack in upright position.
 2. An anti-theft display rack as in claim 1, wherein said one frame member comprises a substantially rectangularly shaped, open, wire support frame, and said bars are wire and are welded at opposite ends to opposite sides of the support frame.
 3. An anti-theft display rack as in claim 1 an end of one of said legs of said hooks is welded to a support bar and the other leg is spaced downwardly therefrom defining a space between the legs through which articles may be applied to and removed from said hook.
 4. An anti-theft display rack as in claim 3 wherein the free end of said other leg is turned downwardly and is below the end of said other leg, said hook inclined downwardly and outwardly from said support bar.
 5. An anti-theft display rack as in claim 1 wherein a plurality of vertically extending braces are fixed to said frame and to sAid support bars.
 6. An anti-theft display rack as in claim 1 wherein a combination carrying handle and locking means is on an upper end portion of said frame.
 7. An anti-theft display rack as in claim 6 wherein a pair of downwardly extending support legs are fixed to a bottom edge portion of said frame.
 8. An anti-theft display rack as in claim 4 wherein said other frame member comprises a locking frame and said locking frame is substantially rectangular in shape and is smaller than said support frame and is vertically slidably positioned in the opening bounded by said rectangularly shaped wire support frame, and said locking bars are engaged behind said downwardly turned ends of said hooks when said frame members are in their locked position.
 9. An anti-theft display rack as in claim 8 wherein said locking bars are in vertical alignment with said support bars and a plurality of vertically extending braces are welded to said frame and to the support bars and locking bars to rigidify said display rack.
 10. An anti-theft display rack as in claim 8 wherein said frame members are in locked position when said locking frame is raised relative to said support frame. 